What happens when faced with a perceived threat? When we’re in real or imaginary danger, there are different ways to respond to it for survival.
Initially, the responses to fear were categorized as mainly fight or flight. However, later on, two more fear response categories were introduced as just as fundamental and expected for self-preservation: freeze and fawn. So that nowadays, we can look at and compare them as Fight, Flight, Freeze, and Fawn.
Many would argue the effectiveness and superiority of one over the other, attaching virtue or merit to them, but the reality is that, whether we agree with and are inclined to take an approach or not, they all have their time and place. And you might not survive if you insist on one method over another when it is not the most suitable for the situation and circumstances surrounding you. Regardless, as responses that are instinctual but can be emulated, we are not entirely left at the mercy of whatever comes most naturally to us and can consciously adopt what would keep us alive if desperate times call for desperate measures.
• Fight
Attacking and being on the offense. A tackle-the-problem approach. Those who resort to this are confrontational and even aggressive. Necessary if the threat must be eliminated. Backfires when making matters escalate.
• Flight
Escaping and disappearing. An avoid-the-problem approach. Those who resort to this are migratory and even remote. Necessary if the threat cannot be eliminated. Backfires when it gives room for issues to spread.
• Freeze
Pausing and remaining still. An allow-the-problem approach. Those who resort to this are unsure and even shocked. Necessary if the threat should not be agitated. Backfires when an interruption or a distraction were urgently required.
• Fawn
Softening and appeasing. A befriend-the-problem approach. Those who resort to this are pleasing and even flattering. Necessary if the threat should be pacified. Backfires when enables and empowers to an eventual detriment.
As trauma responses (see “What is Trauma?”), the above manifest as a series of symptoms and behaviors that can be self-sabotaging rather than self-preserving, happening quite involuntarily. As though fear has struck and stuck, causing malfunctions within. But otherwise, these responses can, to an extent, be voluntarily directed and controlled to maneuver against danger. Regardless, you may need to train yourself in one or more of them.
Which is your most instinctive response to fear? Which are you least inclined to adopt?